Master’s Report May 2026

This is proving to be a year of immense activity, networking, socialising and dining within the Livery and the City. It is an extraordinary ride.

At the Glass Sellers, we have welcomed 13 new Freemen to the Company and installed 5 Liverymen. We continue to grow and swell our numbers; great work from the Membership Committee. Meanwhile, the Charity has received the highest number and greatest value of requests for support in its history. There is no doubt that you will hear more about this shortly. In the meantime, I can thoroughly recommend the 200 Club, having won one of the prizes at the March (Luxembutchers) Dinner.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Ravenscroft Lecture. Roland Hill gave a fascinating presentation about the ubiquitous but almost unnoticed phenomenon of one-way glass that he invented. Early in April he underwent a serious operation to remove a tumour in his neck. He is convalescing, and we wish him well.

A few days later we joined Honorary Liveryman Peter Layton, the Godfather of the British Contemporary Glass movement, at Collect at Somerset House, where he received a lifetime achievement award. This year he celebrates 50 years of London Glassblowing and next year he turns 90. I encourage you all to visit his London Glassblowing workshop and showroom before he retires.

There have been numerous dinners and opportunities to engage with my Masters’ Year Group and their liveries. Of particular note was our trip to Faslane to celebrate 125 years of submarines. Nine Glass Sellers were amongst 270 staff and affiliates to spend the day on HMS Artful or HMS Ambush, experience the submarine simulator, and watch the escape drill through a mock hatch and simulated North Sea, complete with waves, wind, rain and thunder. The day rounded up with a splendid dinner.

In sadder news, we have said goodbye this year to Past Mistress Lisa Scarth, wife of Past Master Martin, and to Freeman Andrew Broskom. Our thoughts are with their families.

Karen and I are very much looking forward to attending the Royal Garden Party the day before we leave for Luxembourg and the Master’s Jolly.  The calendar for the next 10 weeks is full, including a range of activities including dinners, lectures, and the Lady Mayor’s weekend. There are also opportunities for everyone to engage with inter-livery competitive events such as pétanque, cask rolling, croquet as well as cart marking and the election of the Sheriffs; later in the year will come the Election of the Lord Mayor and the Sheep Drive to mention just a few events. The Big Curry Lunch was again a big success, with 20 Glass Sellers amongst 2000 diners. The City never stops!

In August we will celebrate glass at the Biennale in St Helens. Many of you will join us for our fundraising Alice in Wonderland afternoon at our home in Chester. There are just a few tickets left.

Our next dinner is at the Vintners’ Hall after Evensong. It was there that I took my Freeman’s Declaration in the summer of 2014 to Sir Andrew Parmley. I asked the Clerk to try to take us back there this year, and he has. It promises to be a special evening. Our guest speaker is Commodore Suzi Nielson OBE, and our glass artist is Emma Britton. You will be able to read more about them from the Calling Notice.

At the dinner we will celebrate the values that we hold dear – duty, loyalty, care, respect, camaraderie, tradition and enjoyment, as we celebrate extraordinary service to the livery. These virtues mean a great deal to me, and I commit to upholding them, the foundations that define our company spirit, embodied in our recent “fun and fellowship” strapline. We have a great company and a great future.

Matthew Demmon

3 May 2026